Galaxy Destruction Inc. - Sacrifice for Rebirth (2018)

Country: Taiwan
Style: Melodic Death Metal
Rating: 7/10
Release Date: 27 Dec 2018
Sites: Facebook | Instagram

I don't know a lot of bands from Taiwan, Chthonic possibly being both the beginning and end of that list, but I can now add the gloriously named Galaxy Destruction Inc. to it. They're a melodic death metal band with the sort of melodic death metal singer you might expect but there are black metal shrieks here too on the opening track and, while their Facebook page is presumably in Mandarin, it only lists one vocalist so I'm impressed with his range.

It's the guitarwork that caught my attention though. Even though there are only five tracks (plus a symphonic intro) to go on here because this is only an EP rather than a full length album, the two guitarists make their presence known. I can't name them because I can't speak Mandarin but, between them, they keep a lot of melody alive as tracks run on. Not all melodic death metal bands are this melodic. There are points too, like the beginning of Salvation, where this almost sounds like a shredder album with blastbeats.

After that, Salvation blisters on for a while but, unlike Galaxy Destruction, which kicked off the album with emphasis by blistering all the way through, this one mixes up its pace with a slower section in the middle for that sadly unknown guitarist to solo over.

While the core of Galaxy Destruction Inc.'s sound is clearly melodic death metal, it isn't afraid to mix it up. Imprisoned slows things down considerably and its subdued clean vocal sections aren't up to the standard of the growls and shrieks, but it ends with a neat groove, with a growl over clean backing vocals. Insurrection thrashes it up but finds time in the middle for what almost sounds like a Viking metal chorus. A similar thing shows up towards the end of Eden, reinforcing a folk edge to a band that otherwise don't remotely sound like folk metal.

Hey, let's go back and summarise all that! Galaxy Destruction Inc. are a melodic death metal band in the traditional Swedish style. One track adds black metal shrieks while one adds clean vocals. Two add Viking metal chants. At least one, arguably more, are clearly rooted in thrash metal. And a few tracks, especially one, feature shredding guitarwork. That's a lot of diversity for a five track EP!

The best thing about EPs is that they tend to introduce us to new bands at a shorter length (and a correspondingly lower cost). On that front, this one works because I'd never heard of Galaxy Destruction Inc. before and now I'm aware how good they are. Of course, the worst thing is that, when they work, they end far too quickly. This is a band to watch and I'll certainly be looking out for a full length release.